A new report to Congress by the U.S. Treasury Department warns that expanding Russia sanctions against Russia to include new issues of Russian government bonds would have "serious spillover effects" for the global economy.
The report was submitted to Congress on January 29, and obtained by U.S. media on February 2.
It says that sanctions related to Russian sovereign debt, or government-issued bonds, could hurt "both the Russian Federation and U.S. investors and businesses."
Such sanctions could suppress Russia's economic growth, strain its banking sector, and prompt "Russian retaliation against U.S. interests."
On January 29, U.S. President Donald Trump submitted to Congress a list of 210 Russians, including government officials and 96 so-called oligarchs each reportedly worth more than $1 billion, that could be targeted with additional sanctions.
However, no new sanctions were announced.
The list was submitted to comply with the Counter America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was overwhelmingly approved by Congress and reluctantly signed into law by Trump last August.
CAATSA was adopted in response to a U.S. intelligence community finding that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered a clandestine campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election to benefit Trump.
